Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, the
Speaker 1: House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Hey,
Speaker 1: welcome to home, where every week we help you better
Speaker 1: understand that place where you live. I am Dean Sharp,
Speaker 1: the house Whisperer, here with you live like I am
Speaker 1: every weekend, Saturday mornings from six to eight Pacific time,
Speaker 1: Sunday mornings nine to noon Pacific time. I am so
Speaker 1: grateful that you are with us. Truly, truly, I understand
Speaker 1: how important weekends are. My weekend is important too, and
Speaker 1: so to think that you've cut out some time to
Speaker 1: actually spend some time with me talking about your home,
Speaker 1: as important as it is, we don't take those things
Speaker 1: for granted. We appreciate that you are here with us.
Speaker 1: We're actually talking about something really practical, especially leading to
Speaker 1: the holidays. A decor issue today, and that is how
Speaker 1: to hang stuff on your walls, the kind of walls
Speaker 1: that you've got, the kind of hardware that you can use.
Speaker 1: So it's a very light kind of decor and decorator day,
Speaker 1: but a very important one because a lot of people
Speaker 1: get it wrong. There's a lot of walls out there
Speaker 1: with holes and battle scars from improper hanging, and a
Speaker 1: lot of walls without those scars where things are just
Speaker 1: not hung right. Doesn't look good at all. So I'm
Speaker 1: trying to help you through it all today. We're going
Speaker 1: to return to that conversation in just a bit. But also,
Speaker 1: as we do every show, we're taking calls. The number
Speaker 1: to reach me eight three to three two. Ask Dean
Speaker 1: eight three three the numeral two. Ask Dean eight three
Speaker 1: three two ask Dean. Producer Richie's standing by. He's ready
Speaker 1: to tell you everything you need to know. He'll take
Speaker 1: your call, pop you into the queue, and then you
Speaker 1: and I we can put our heads together figure out
Speaker 1: what's going on with your home. I want to go
Speaker 1: back to the phones right now. Let's talk to Let's
Speaker 1: talk to Chris. Hey, Chris, welcome home.
Speaker 2: Hello, I'm the model. Yes, can you hear me?
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, yeah, I got you, but great.
Speaker 2: I'm modeling a small second four bathroom and a cast
Speaker 2: iron tub would just be too difficult to put in,
Speaker 2: and I am looking for a recommendation on a crylic
Speaker 2: or steel tub, and also looking at putting a heated
Speaker 2: floor in.
Speaker 1: I thinking about putting a heated floor in as well, okay,
Speaker 1: cast iron is too difficult to put in because of access,
Speaker 1: because of its weight, all of the above correct. Okay.
Speaker 1: The only reason I say that is begin and I
Speaker 1: assume maybe this is something Chris, are you guys di
Speaker 1: ying this one? And that's why the cast iron is
Speaker 1: too much, because you know, if you've got somebody else
Speaker 1: doing it, you know, just them, I either think.
Speaker 2: They can get it in there. It's a small bathroom.
Speaker 2: It has a two foot four door, and then it's
Speaker 2: a typical five foot across and there's also the poya
Speaker 2: in that same area, so that's maybe five foot deep
Speaker 2: or maybe five and a half feet deep, So there's
Speaker 2: very little room in there too. Muscle that in there
Speaker 2: and getting it up the stairway and then around note
Speaker 2: a hallway is difficult as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's difficult, no doubt, no doubt. All Right, So anyway,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be labor the point,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna say, of all tubs as far as
Speaker 1: long term durability and usefulness for a holme, when we're
Speaker 1: just talking about a standard tub, not some fancy you know,
Speaker 1: jetted this that freestanding so on, we default to cast
Speaker 1: iron and difficult. Yes. Will it fit in there, yes
Speaker 1: it will. Can it fit in there, yes it will.
Speaker 1: Will it get through a two foot four door, Absolutely
Speaker 1: it will because it can be held on its side
Speaker 1: because it's only about seventeen inches, so it's only seventeen
Speaker 1: inches wide going that way. Is it a hassle, yes,
Speaker 1: But once it's done, it will literally outlast the rest
Speaker 1: of the house. When the rest of your house has
Speaker 1: composted into the soil, what will remain cast iron tip
Speaker 1: liitting there in the empty field. So anyway, just to
Speaker 1: say that, so it's not the only option. Though you
Speaker 1: had mentioned steel and or acrylic, which is sometimes also
Speaker 1: referred to as a resin tub. So if I'm defaulting
Speaker 1: to one of those two, I will clearly, unequivocally tell
Speaker 1: you go with the acrylic and resin tub and just
Speaker 1: treat it well as far as it's surface. Don't clean
Speaker 1: it with abrasive pads or anything like that so that
Speaker 1: you scratch and mar the surface, but don't go with
Speaker 1: the steel tub. Dean is not a fan of steel tubs,
Speaker 1: and here is why a steel tub coated in porcelain
Speaker 1: enamel is in fact the intent of a steel tub
Speaker 1: is to simulate inexpensively a cast iron tub where the
Speaker 1: cast iron is coated in porcelain or enamel. And people
Speaker 1: ask me all the time, well, it's still the same surface,
Speaker 1: sting on the you know, on they look as good
Speaker 1: on the surface, right, Yes they do. Is it the
Speaker 1: same porcelain enamel? Yes it is. And so why don't
Speaker 1: you like the steel tub? Because the reason a cast
Speaker 1: iron tub lasts as long as it is, and the
Speaker 1: reason it's as heavy as it is is that the
Speaker 1: cast iron is thick and it is immovable and inflexible,
Speaker 1: and so coating a tub like that in porcelain enamel
Speaker 1: not a problem because that tub will never flex or
Speaker 1: bend or move because porcelain enamel, as strong as it is,
Speaker 1: is not flexible. It's not a flexible material. It's like,
Speaker 1: you know, the enamel on your teeth. It's super strong,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't bend, and when it is forced to bend,
Speaker 1: then it chips and cracks. And this is the absolute,
Speaker 1: without question, fate, destined fate of all steel tubs. The
Speaker 1: only problem is the steel surface is too large and
Speaker 1: too flexible. If you can push it in with your knee,
Speaker 1: if you can get any flex out of it whatsoever.
Speaker 1: Over an extended period of time, that flexion will in
Speaker 1: fact crack the enamel and you get these little pit
Speaker 1: or pock marks in it where whole chunks come out
Speaker 1: and so on. So, if I have a choice, and
Speaker 1: I'm not going with the cast iron, which I would
Speaker 1: still encourage you to have your builders, you know, pony
Speaker 1: up and get it done. Go with the resin, the
Speaker 1: resin and or acrylic tub. It's nice and thick, it's
Speaker 1: all one element. Its downside is it's not quite as
Speaker 1: shiny and as bulletproof on the surface for cleaning, so
Speaker 1: you just have to treat it a little bit more tenderly.
Speaker 1: But you also get a lot of color choices out
Speaker 1: of the resin tubs, and if they're treated well, they
Speaker 1: can last for decades as well. And they will not
Speaker 1: a good resin tub, not a thin little fiberglass walled tub,
Speaker 1: but a good resin and or acrylic tub will also
Speaker 1: stand the test of time because without the cracks and
Speaker 1: the pits, because it is thick enough and innately flexible
Speaker 1: enough to withstand that kind of weight and water and
Speaker 1: stepping in and out and so on. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2: Yes, And I had noticed online a well known manufacturer
Speaker 2: we have been considering had really bad reviews out they're
Speaker 2: acrylic tub and it's a leave of fiberglass with the
Speaker 2: gail coat over it crylic and that they said it's cracked,
Speaker 2: got cracks in the corners, which who wants that in
Speaker 2: a tub that's been tiled in. Very difficult to decide
Speaker 2: on what kind of acrylic tub or what manufacturer would
Speaker 2: be best.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, this is the situation where you trust the reviews. Okay,
Speaker 1: trust the reviews, and if you see anything talking about
Speaker 1: cracking and or that anything in that nature, walk away.
Speaker 1: Because again, the key to a tub, the key to
Speaker 1: a tub, it's not the surface. It's not how pretty
Speaker 1: the gel code is, and this is where it varies.
Speaker 1: It's how thick the material is underneath it. That's the
Speaker 1: difference between a cast iron and a steel tub. Both
Speaker 1: are made out of metal, and one is great, the
Speaker 1: other is not. And it's the difference between various fiberglass
Speaker 1: and acrylic tubs. You want to know that this is
Speaker 1: a thick, heavy tub because it's understructure is thick enough
Speaker 1: to not allow excessive flexion, because eventually, eventually, if there's
Speaker 1: too much flex, the coatings will crack. That's just the
Speaker 1: way it goes. That's why cast iron tubs stand the
Speaker 1: test of time. Even one hundred plus year old cast
Speaker 1: iron tubs that have enamel damage on them, we will
Speaker 1: pull them out, take them, have them sand blasted, re enameled,
Speaker 1: pop back in, and they're good for another one hundred years. Again.
Speaker 1: That's why you know, I was kind of leaning in
Speaker 1: that direction anyway, Chris, thank you for your call. I
Speaker 1: hope that helps.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: It's the thickness of the substructure of the tub that
Speaker 1: is key. That's the thing for everybody to know. All right.
Speaker 1: When we were should we take another you know I do?
Speaker 1: I want to take another call when we come back,
Speaker 1: We're going to take at least one more call, and
Speaker 1: then we will return to the subject of hanging stuff
Speaker 1: on your walls.
Speaker 3: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp onto me from KFI.
Speaker 2: A M six?
Speaker 1: Is that from Sesame Street or The Muppet Show? Is it?
Speaker 1: I still sing the song and I still watch the episode,
Speaker 1: so but did it though? Yeah? It is? It's a
Speaker 1: Muppet because he's because he's kind of a wild guy
Speaker 1: and he's got he's got these three background singers who
Speaker 1: start kicking in with the and then he starts going
Speaker 1: off and they get really upset at him. Wow, that's
Speaker 1: just lodged into my brain from my Childhood's so good.
Speaker 1: That's so good. Oh my gosh, thank you, Jackie, thank you.
Speaker 1: You're welcome. All right? Uh kfi Dean Sharp the house whisper,
Speaker 1: at your service. We're just having a good time here
Speaker 1: this morning. We're talking about hanging stuff on your walls,
Speaker 1: but I'm also taking calls. I want to go back
Speaker 1: to the phones. Uh take another call or so if
Speaker 1: I can, and then we will return to uh getting
Speaker 1: stuff hung on your walls properly.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Let's talk to Jeff. Hey, Jeff, welcome home.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Dane. How are you?
Speaker 1: I am well, sir. How can I help you?
Speaker 2: Well, here's what I got. I have a second home
Speaker 2: in southern Utah and it is about the homes at
Speaker 2: about fifty two hundred feet, so it gets a lot
Speaker 2: of sun radiation. I have an exterior metal door that's
Speaker 2: insulated and it has or I should say had like
Speaker 2: a manufactured skin on it that's a wood grain. The
Speaker 2: door is covered by a storm door that's a glass
Speaker 2: storm door, and that simulated wood grain is just peeled off.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if it's from the heat or
Speaker 2: the UV light or what it is, but I need
Speaker 2: to replace the door, and I'm wondering if I should
Speaker 2: just take another crack at the same type of door
Speaker 2: because it's the next sterior door, or there's something else
Speaker 2: I should be considering. Probably not wood, because it gets,
Speaker 2: like I said, blasted by the sun and heat.
Speaker 1: So any suggestions, Uh, okay, So all right, So we're
Speaker 1: up at higher elevation and uh, and it's a lot
Speaker 1: of UV exposure and it's getting heat and cold throughout
Speaker 1: the year at that elevation. And also behind a storm door,
Speaker 1: a glass storm door, so it's kind of in a
Speaker 1: little little humid uh, you know, encasement environment as well.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, Okay, the other door had
Speaker 1: this this you know, resin or fiberglass wood grain coating
Speaker 1: on it or veneer on it. Is this a critical door?
Speaker 1: I mean, is this the front door? Is this is
Speaker 1: the is the What am I trying to say? Is
Speaker 1: the esthetic value of this door so high that we
Speaker 1: need to simulate wood on this door? Or can we
Speaker 1: just forego the wood and give it a good paint shot.
Speaker 2: Well, that's the other issue is it's an exterior door,
Speaker 2: so the appearances and that critical. But part of it's
Speaker 2: peeled off and part of it's still on the door,
Speaker 2: and I try to even scrape off what's on there,
Speaker 2: and it's just it looks horrible because it's part grain
Speaker 2: and part flat and it just it just looks really bad.
Speaker 1: So I understand, yeah, I understand that. I understand that
Speaker 1: that that that door is probably toast at this point,
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't even I wouldn't trust it if it
Speaker 1: has delaminated on you. So I agree, let's change out
Speaker 1: the door. But as far as recommending a replacement, if
Speaker 1: it's not like a critical esthetic door in which you're
Speaker 1: saying to me, absolutely I need wood grain looking door
Speaker 1: finish here, Dean, then I'm just going to tell you,
Speaker 1: let's just get a really good, exterior grade, well insulated
Speaker 1: metal door that is not trying to be anything else,
Speaker 1: that that only has a a metal ing casement on
Speaker 1: the surface, so that you can get it in the
Speaker 1: color that you want, or you get it pre primed
Speaker 1: and paint it the color that you want, and you
Speaker 1: just take care of it like any regular painted door.
Speaker 1: That kind of thing doesn't have a veneer that's going
Speaker 1: to peel off. It's not going to be subject to
Speaker 1: humidity because there are no adhesives involved. There's just a
Speaker 1: really good metal paint job, maybe even a you know,
Speaker 1: a shop grade powder coating on it that will stand
Speaker 1: the test of time. That's probably what I would recommend
Speaker 1: to you. So if you're going to change out the door,
Speaker 1: don't worry about, you know, trying to match an aesthetic
Speaker 1: if the esthetic I mean to me, I'm a designer.
Speaker 1: All exterior doors are important on some level, but they're
Speaker 1: not all important in the same way. So if this
Speaker 1: is not the grand entry door to the house, which
Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like it is, then let's just pick
Speaker 1: an attractive color and let it be the utilitarian door
Speaker 1: that it needs to be without trying to add this
Speaker 1: aesthetic surface to it that might be problematic yet again.
Speaker 2: Okay, so if I was to paint the door, you know,
Speaker 2: replace it like you said, which is a great recommendation,
Speaker 2: Should I use some sort of a metal type.
Speaker 1: Of paint absolutely to apply on the door? Okay, yep, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: You're gonna use a metal a metal based a paint
Speaker 1: that is for metal surfaces, you know, and something as
Speaker 1: simple as rustolium, and they make fantastic paints. They've they've
Speaker 1: built an entire company reputation on on treating metal surfaces
Speaker 1: in all sorts of kinds of uh of sexy colors
Speaker 1: and finishes, and so something as simple as that properly
Speaker 1: masked and properly applied, and you may be able to shop.
Speaker 1: When you're shopping for these doors, A lot of manufacturers
Speaker 1: are going to ask you right up front, hey, especially
Speaker 1: the better manufacturers, They're going to ask you, Hey, what
Speaker 1: color would you like the door. Some of them will
Speaker 1: give you a selection. This door comes in six colors.
Speaker 1: Other manufacturers will say, do you have a color, give
Speaker 1: us your color. We'll send this door out, you know,
Speaker 1: factory coded, powder coated, just like a car coming out
Speaker 1: of the shop with a you know what what, very
Speaker 1: well may be a lifetime surface paint job on that door.
Speaker 1: So I just think that's your your your probably your
Speaker 1: best bet, Jeff Great.
Speaker 2: I really appreciate the advice. Love your show, Dean, and
Speaker 2: I hope you're doing well.
Speaker 1: Take care. We are, thank you, buddy, really appreciate your
Speaker 1: call and Thanks for listening. Keep on listening. All right,
Speaker 1: y'all when we return back to hanging stuff inside your house.
Speaker 3: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
Speaker 3: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1: We just got off taking a few calls. We may
Speaker 1: be returning to the phone, So if you're on the line,
Speaker 1: hang tight, Hang tight. That's my goal. That's my goal.
Speaker 1: We'll be coming back to the phones in just a bit.
Speaker 1: But right now it's time to return to our conversation
Speaker 1: about hanging stuff on your walls in your home. Let's
Speaker 1: see where am i at here in minotes? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: we're up to the actual type of hanger. We've talked
Speaker 1: about wall conditions. Knowing your wall condition critical, the weight
Speaker 1: of the object that you're going to hang, and the
Speaker 1: anchor points that you have available in order to hang
Speaker 1: that object. Now let's talk about hangers. Now, we got
Speaker 1: to get down and dirty, and this is the stuff
Speaker 1: that's going to go on or in or through the wall.
Speaker 1: So the classic, we got to start with the classic,
Speaker 1: the angled nail, right, a finished nail, meaning it a small,
Speaker 1: small diameter nail, as small as possible given the weight
Speaker 1: and size of the object in question. To be hung
Speaker 1: an angled nail at a straight into the wall, but
Speaker 1: at a slight upward angle, tapped carefully into the wall,
Speaker 1: and boom, you hang the thing on it and there
Speaker 1: you go. All right. It's a classic. Better than the
Speaker 1: angled nail, though, is the angled nail with hook combo,
Speaker 1: the kind of thing that comes in a picture hanging
Speaker 1: kit or picture hanging hardware. We've talked about that already.
Speaker 1: Usually their brass or aluminum looking, and they have a
Speaker 1: little fold over at the top, one piece of metal
Speaker 1: that makes the hook. It's folded up at the bottom,
Speaker 1: and then in that fold over metal at the top
Speaker 1: there are two holes, which sets the optimal angle for
Speaker 1: the nail. You shoot through both of those holes and
Speaker 1: tap it in. The advantages that you're tapping on top
Speaker 1: of this hangar and not on the wall, so you
Speaker 1: probably probably not going to hit the wall with your hammer.
Speaker 1: And you know, those work just fine for smaller items.
Speaker 1: Why complicate things if that works well for you? Better yet, though,
Speaker 1: if you're going to use the angled nail and hook combo,
Speaker 1: is a hook with an earthquake tab on it. Okay,
Speaker 1: the exact same thing that I just described you Everything
Speaker 1: is the same except with the addition of a tiny
Speaker 1: little flexible piece of spring metal that has been placed
Speaker 1: on top of the hook, so that you have to
Speaker 1: actually clip in the picture of the painting or the wire,
Speaker 1: whatever it is that it's hooking onto. The advantage there
Speaker 1: being that if the especially here in southern California, if
Speaker 1: the wall begins to bounce or shake and it can't
Speaker 1: actually it doesn't have the freedom to shake itself off
Speaker 1: the hook, that tiny little tab of metal can make
Speaker 1: all the difference in preserving something on the wall. And
Speaker 1: if you live in socaw now across the country, you've
Speaker 1: got to consider other things. Wind that kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: you know, rush through the house if you've got the
Speaker 1: windows open, and so on. But generally speaking, if you
Speaker 1: can include that safety tab, it's never a bad idea
Speaker 1: in order to kind of lock things in place. If
Speaker 1: you don't have that option, you can use the trick
Speaker 1: that I mentioned earlier, which is a tiny bit of
Speaker 1: adhesive backed velcrow which you can get at the hardware store.
Speaker 1: Stick one side of it to the bottom of the picture,
Speaker 1: and then peel off the adhesive and get ready to
Speaker 1: stick it onto the wall, and then you know, hang
Speaker 1: it as you would on the nail or the hook,
Speaker 1: and then press the bottom with that velcrow against the wall.
Speaker 1: Keep it away from the edge so you don't see it.
Speaker 1: We don't want to see that fuzzy little thing, but
Speaker 1: just a little bit in from the edge so we
Speaker 1: don't see it. Push that onto the wall and it
Speaker 1: holds the bottom. Now, I mentioned it earlier as a
Speaker 1: technique for keeping something level so that even banging on
Speaker 1: the wall or somebody slamming a door doesn't throw it
Speaker 1: out of level. That's one of the uses of these
Speaker 1: little velcrow tabs. But the other use is just the
Speaker 1: fact that you've got the other end of the item anchored,
Speaker 1: even with something as simple as a tiny little bit
Speaker 1: of velcrow. If the wall starts bouncing, it doesn't have
Speaker 1: the freedom to bounce up high enough to get off
Speaker 1: the nail. So it's also an earthquake support as well,
Speaker 1: if that makes sense. Okay, so we move away from
Speaker 1: the angled nail and we go on to one of
Speaker 1: my classics, which is, instead of the angled nail, if
Speaker 1: all else fails, a coarse threaded dry wall screw. Now
Speaker 1: it sounds uncouth like. It's not a fancy it's not
Speaker 1: an official picture hanger whatsoever. But you know what, when
Speaker 1: you have to make do, you have to make do.
Speaker 1: And if you were to give me the choice of, hey,
Speaker 1: I've got this finished nail, dean, or I've got a
Speaker 1: coarse thread drywall screw, I'm picking the drywall screw every
Speaker 1: day of the week. Why because the coarse threads bite
Speaker 1: into the drywall nicely. Okay. Number two, it's just as strong,
Speaker 1: if not stronger, than a nail. Number three, it's got
Speaker 1: a nice little head on it to hold the wire
Speaker 1: and or the bracket on better than just the tiny
Speaker 1: head of a finished nail, which doesn't have much to
Speaker 1: retain it on as you're pulling it off. So there
Speaker 1: you go. You can always settle for a coarse thread
Speaker 1: drywall screw. And no, even though it looks significantly thicker
Speaker 1: than a finished nail, it's surprising what a small hole
Speaker 1: it leaves in drywall along the way. Now, when it
Speaker 1: comes to drywall, let me be very clear. This next
Speaker 1: thing is something that way too many people buy, way
Speaker 1: too many hardware stores recommend, and I don't want you
Speaker 1: to use it. The expansion anchor. Okay. An expansion anchor
Speaker 1: is one of those little multicolored, come in different colors,
Speaker 1: and sleeve, a little plastic sleeve that you're supposed to
Speaker 1: stick into the wall, a little drywall. You just stick
Speaker 1: it in. Some of them even come with their own
Speaker 1: little barbed points and they're like, it's so easy, just
Speaker 1: stick it into the wall. And then you're supposed to
Speaker 1: be able to screw a screw into it. Now, let
Speaker 1: me just describe what has happened to so many of you.
Speaker 1: You're going to be nodding and saying yes. And if
Speaker 1: you haven't had this happen to you, then listen up
Speaker 1: as you start to screw that screw and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, the whole anchor just starts spinning in the drywall. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's because it's a terrible idea. It's just a terrible,
Speaker 1: terrible idea. If you've got a drywall situation, understand this
Speaker 1: drywall is made from gypsum. Gypsum is a famous on
Speaker 1: planet Earth because it is literally the lightest, softest mineral
Speaker 1: that we have on this planets. It's perfect for putting
Speaker 1: together sheets of drywall. But as far as its strength
Speaker 1: ability to resist, okay, the turning of an anchor that's
Speaker 1: been placed into it. No, no, no, no, no, it's
Speaker 1: like it's like sticking this anchor. You might as well
Speaker 1: stick this anchor into a bowl of baby powder and
Speaker 1: expect that the baby powder is somehow going to grab
Speaker 1: onto this anchor and keep it from spinning. It's not. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's not. And I don't care if it's got little
Speaker 1: tabs on it or whatever the case may be. No,
Speaker 1: don't waste your time with an expansion anchor that is
Speaker 1: supposed to provide its tension, because the whole idea is
Speaker 1: you push it in and as you put the screw in,
Speaker 1: the screw separates these two little feet that it has,
Speaker 1: or these tabs, and they press against the material to
Speaker 1: the sides and secure it in place. Yeah, doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: The drywall is too soft. Now, if you have a
Speaker 1: plaster wall, as we discussed previously, plaster is cement. That's concrete.
Speaker 1: That's hard. And if you've drilled just the right size
Speaker 1: hole in that plaster wall with the right bit a
Speaker 1: little masonry bit, a nice clean hole, and it's just
Speaker 1: the perfect size to slide in an expansion anchor.
Speaker 2: Or.
Speaker 1: If you have a concrete wall, it's all the same.
Speaker 1: It's a cementious material. If you got that, it'll work
Speaker 1: fine because the cement, the concrete, the cementiousness of the
Speaker 1: plaster will resist the anchor, and the chances are it's
Speaker 1: not going to spin at all and it's going to
Speaker 1: expand tightly and work great. But not drywall. Plaster, not drywall,
Speaker 1: all right, So what do we use for drywall? Instead?
Speaker 1: We got to get through the wall and put some
Speaker 1: pressure on the back side of the wall with our anchors.
Speaker 1: And they're a complicated and super simp ways to do it,
Speaker 1: and I will describe them both to you.
Speaker 3: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
Speaker 3: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for joining us on the program. Here we
Speaker 1: are approaching the top of our second hour on the show.
Speaker 1: We're talking about something very very basic, very important though,
Speaker 1: and useful for everybody to learn, including Tony, who has
Speaker 1: apparently been hanging very valuable things off of very sketchy
Speaker 1: wallhangers for some time. I've made all these mistakes. I'm
Speaker 1: learning now taking notes. We're talking about hanging stuff on
Speaker 1: your walls, and we will continue to fill you in
Speaker 1: on what's necessary there. And so thanks for joining us
Speaker 1: on the program, and I think, if at all possible,
Speaker 1: we're going to get back to the phones as well.
Speaker 1: I'm going to try my best. So I'm in the
Speaker 1: middle of talking about the types of hangers that we use.
Speaker 1: We've talked about the angled nail, the angled nail with
Speaker 1: hooke combo. Better yet, a hook with an earthquake tab
Speaker 1: on it, the coarse threaded drywall screw. If you're in
Speaker 1: a pinch, nothing works better than that. Expansion anchors great
Speaker 1: for concrete type walls and plaster walls, but not at
Speaker 1: all a good idea for drywall. It's too soft. Too soft, Okay,
Speaker 1: So what do we use for drywall? Well, what we
Speaker 1: want is specifically a kind of anchor that is a
Speaker 1: hollow wall anchor, i e. The kind of anchor that
Speaker 1: goes through the drywall and takes advantage of the back side,
Speaker 1: the back surface of the drywall, in order to secure itself. Now,
Speaker 1: there are some various types that used to be back
Speaker 1: in the day, the butterfly bolt was pretty much your
Speaker 1: only choice for a true hollow wall anchor. A butterfly
Speaker 1: bolt is a bolt and instead of a regular or
Speaker 1: nut on it, it has and you've seen these. It
Speaker 1: has these spring loaded let's call them wings that you
Speaker 1: can fold back and then shove through the wall, and
Speaker 1: then as soon as they're on the other side of
Speaker 1: the wall, the wings expand and then you can pull
Speaker 1: them against the backside of the drywall and tighten the
Speaker 1: bolt down to it. Okay, that can be quite an
Speaker 1: extensive little thing. And also the thing with a butterfly
Speaker 1: bolt is that you got to know. And now it's
Speaker 1: a great hangar, it's a great, great, great hollow wall hanger,
Speaker 1: but you got to know this about a butterfly bolt,
Speaker 1: and that is the problem with it. Is you've got
Speaker 1: to make sure that's where you're going in the wall,
Speaker 1: because there's no move in it. After the fact, there's
Speaker 1: no getting to those wings. You can't reconstrict them again
Speaker 1: and pull it back out. And also, the size of
Speaker 1: the wings when they're folded up, it's pretty sizable. It's
Speaker 1: considerably larger than the actual shaft of the bolt itself.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna make you know, relative to the size
Speaker 1: of butterfly bolt you're using, you're gonna make a significant
Speaker 1: little hole in the wall. Okay, Uh, so you gotta
Speaker 1: know you got it. You're doing some damage to that
Speaker 1: wall in order to get that in there. But if
Speaker 1: that's where it's supposed to be, then you're good to go. Okay.
Speaker 1: There are other hollow wall anchors though these days, that
Speaker 1: are easier to use than your classic butterfly bolt and uh,
Speaker 1: and some of which leave much smaller holes. Number one,
Speaker 1: let's just stick with the the whole spreading wing thing. Okay, Uh,
Speaker 1: you'll see these these are so so much better than
Speaker 1: the expansion sleeves that I was just talking about for
Speaker 1: dry wall. They come in metal and plastic versions, and
Speaker 1: that is Uh. It's actually a a tiny little threaded
Speaker 1: machine bolt common combined with a sleeve with a very
Speaker 1: very sharp point on the end. And it's actually a
Speaker 1: two piece sleeve so that when you shove it in
Speaker 1: the wall, the sleeve gets beyond the backside of the
Speaker 1: dry wall. And then as you start to snug up
Speaker 1: the screw or I should say the bolt because it's
Speaker 1: technically a bolt, it actually turns that part of the
Speaker 1: shaft size sideways like the wings of the butterfly bowl
Speaker 1: and pulls it against the back side of the wall.
Speaker 1: Those things work, I would say ninety percent of the time.
Speaker 1: They're almost the exact opposite of the expansion sleeve, which
Speaker 1: only works ten percent of the time and doesn't do
Speaker 1: a great job of holding. Even when they do work,
Speaker 1: these hallow wall anchors they work ninety percent plus. There's
Speaker 1: also a plastic version where you shove the whole thing
Speaker 1: in pull a little tab in the center. As you
Speaker 1: pull it, you hear a ratcheting sound. The tab breaks off,
Speaker 1: and what you've just done is pulled these expandable wings
Speaker 1: against the back and then you put a little bolt
Speaker 1: or screw inside that. Those work ninety plus percent of
Speaker 1: the time as well. But if we want to avoid
Speaker 1: the large hole, and we have a simple hanging project,
Speaker 1: and by simple I just mean we need a hook,
Speaker 1: a hook that can handle all sorts of different sizes
Speaker 1: and weights and comes in different sizes, then you know what,
Speaker 1: you got to check out the monkey hook. I am
Speaker 1: Conway and I were laughing how much of a fan
Speaker 1: I am of monkey hooks. I'm just as a designer.
Speaker 1: I'm a fan of anybody who comes up with a
Speaker 1: brilliantly simple, innovative idea. And if you haven't seen a
Speaker 1: monkey hook, then it's been named that way because it
Speaker 1: sort of looks like the monkeys in shape from you
Speaker 1: remember that game barrel of monkeys, you know, when you
Speaker 1: hook them all together. A monkey hook is just one
Speaker 1: single piece of spring steel wire, Okay, so it makes
Speaker 1: a very very small hole. It's also on the end
Speaker 1: of it, the part that shoved into the wall been
Speaker 1: sliced at an angle, kind of like the angle on
Speaker 1: a syringe. So it pokes in through drywall super super easy.
Speaker 1: And then all you do is you keep pushing it
Speaker 1: in and threading it through. And it's this spring steel
Speaker 1: wire that's bent in such a way that when you
Speaker 1: finally orient the hook on the front side of the wall,
Speaker 1: the arc of the wire is now back behind the wall,
Speaker 1: pushing up against the backside of the drywall. It is
Speaker 1: a brilliant, brilliant, tiny little wire fixture piece of hardware.
Speaker 1: And you know what, if it's a simple, simple hanging
Speaker 1: job where we're just looking for a hook, you're not
Speaker 1: going to find anything better that does less damage to
Speaker 1: a drywall wall than a monkey hook. You know what
Speaker 1: you need to go, You just need to go right now.
Speaker 1: Coming up on a break, you need to go right now,
Speaker 1: and just to open up your phone or your laptop
Speaker 1: or whatever. And just to put in monkey hook and
Speaker 1: you'll see what I'm talking about. If you've never seen one,
Speaker 1: you got to check it out. I want you informed
Speaker 1: by the time we come back so that we can
Speaker 1: continue this conversation. How's that sound all right? Your home
Speaker 1: Dean Sharp the House Whisper on KFI. This has been
Speaker 1: Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
Speaker 1: live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
Speaker 1: from six to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning
Speaker 1: from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app.